The Journey Begins [Invitation Only]

[Aurora Machiko-Edenthaw]

The foothills of Kaminari no Kuni were beautiful, especially after descending the mountain itself. The change in air was amazing. The forest sprawling forth held the promise of untold adventure. It was a dream come true for the silver haired eight year old. Her opalescent eyes flashed around with excitement as her grasp tightened around the neck of the golden hound beside her. "This is it Nyx!" The elated whisper passed her lips as she surveyed their new surroundings. Plush grass and emerald forests awaited them. For young Aurora this was about the journey, not the destination. A journey of learning, adventure, and strength.

Once more she checked her pockets, making absolutely certain she had not forgotten something. The small flute was tucked in the pocket of her forest green sweater. Her parasol of middling size was slung over her shoulder, though unopened as it held her two hundred and eight five senbon. Her hand fan hung from her belt, swaying lazily as she walked. A compass and a flashlight rested within her vest, preparing her for anything.

With one more smile towards her golden companion she continued through the forest, humming happily. She wanted to get a bit further into the woods before she stopped to train or eat.

[Hamura]

Sitting in the lotus position, the young Shinobi was entirely focused on the surrounding earth, his internal chakra, and most importantly, the way in which it flowed throughout his body. Aside from that, all thought was being blocked out. It was quite literally the only way he knew how to train his earth release properly. To Hamura, the use of earth chakra had been limited to turning small earthen surfaces, pebbles and small rocks into mud. While it did not sound like much, it had been quite the achievement to him when he managed to convert his chakra into an element that was not fire. While it had only been a day ago since he learned how to do so, it was not enough for him anymore. He needed to know more, to do better, to surpass what he had been capable of doing yesterday.

Today was supposed to be his second day of training himself in the use of the earth style, which was why he had returned to the same spot as before. Whether it was because the surrounding terrain made it easier for him to train, or because the peace and quiet allowed him to focus properly, he did not know. What he did know was that this place worked a whole lot better than training in the backyard where he could hear all the kids screaming in the streets. Never having been much of a child himself because the circumstances forced him to grow up fast, he never really got into the whole "screaming in the streets" thing. As his mind started to drift back to what he had been like as a child, he bumped into the black void inside of his head.

"Goddamnit.."

Cursing while opening his eyes, he got himself out of his seated position and let go of the chakra he was holding in his core. The moment he had started thinking about his past, he knew he had messed up. The biggest part of his training was blocking out thought, not thinking back about what he could not remember, what his mind kept him from remembering. His grandfather and his doctor had told him that it was a natural way of keeping traumatic events from messing with his head, and that everything would come back to him once he was good and ready. It was for that same reason that he had been kept from knowing how he had even gotten into Kumogakure in the first place. Believing that knowing how he had gotten back might prematurely trigger anything, people deemed it to be in his best interest to keep these things from him.

For as long as he could remember, which was something that stretched back roughly three to four years, he had always been treated with kiddy-gloves. Around the house, he had always been seen as the boy that had been in a coma for months. In the academy, he was the boy with the crutches that everybody took pity on. But all of that had ended once he started sticking up for himself. Beating up a bully with his crutch during a sparring session had broken him away from being pitied by the other kids. This at the same time cleared his status as weakling around the house by the time the academy had reached out to inform them of what had happened. While it may have been a bit of a rough wake-up call, Hamura was just glad that people could finally stop treating him like a leper. Afraid that if they treated him like a real person, his arms and legs might fall off.

Bugged by the fact that he had ruined his training session, he started wandering away from his training spot. Set on returning to the village, he did not really believe that his training would be very successful right now. Leaving the treeline to head back to the Hidden Cloud, he noticed that he was no longer alone. Noticing what seemed like a girl and her dog up in the distance, he decided to wait around to see who this was, and if his assumption was actually on point. Given his looks, he did not really radiate with evil or dark intent, nor were most people even remotely frightened by him. In many ways, Hamura did not really stick out from the crowds of the Hidden Cloud much, something he considered a blessing. Sometimes, blending in and not being noticed were a good thing. Just to be sure he actually was noticed by the newcomer, he leant against a tree and raised his hand as a form of greeting.

[Aurora Machiko-Edenthaw]

[Sorry about formatting, I'm on mobile currently]

Nyx gave a gently 'whuff'. The sound would be for her ears only, a gentle reminder, a call to attention. Her fingers twirled one of her silver braids as she looked up and blinked in surprise. An honest smile spread across her face as she noticed a stranger in the woods. She had not expected to meet someone new so soon!

"Hi!" The simple forwardness of youth spilled from her lips as she waved happily at her new acquaintance. "My name is Aurora, it's a pleasure to meet you!" Her mother had taught her well. It was always best to be polite. Kana had taught her this based on her political history, Aurora believed it since she always saw the best in people.

[Hamura]

"Yo."


Judging the situation based on what he could tell just from looking at her, the girl did not really pose much of a threat to him. She seemed friendly enough, though one could never be too sure. After all, in the world of Shinobi, where people were trained to lie and cheat just to get on someone's good side as a means of gathering intel or getting close enough to stab someone in the back. Looking over the girl, the only things she had on her that might potentially pose a threat were the umbrella and the dog. That said, the dog did not look like it was very protective of its owner, at least not to the point where it growled and barked at him just for being there as most of the village dogs did. It was what he disliked about the animals that had been tamed by those living in the village. They were loud, barked at everything and rarely got looked after properly, which was why so many of them roamed the streets at night as strays that had been abandoned by their owners.


"The name is Hamura, I'm from the Hidden Cloud. I don't think I've seen you or your dog around here before. Are you not from here?"


Figuring a few innocent questions would not do much to turn the situation from anything more than a regular conversation, it would at least provide him with a few answers about the young girl. While it would not make him trust her if she provided an honest answer, it would at the very least show him that she was not trying to hide something from him. In truth, nothing about her screamed "I'm a threat", though he had not been given any reasons not to mistrust her. And as such, he would refrain from doing so. While he would not show it in his body language or tone of voice, which were entirely casual, he was not going to drop his guard just yet.

[Aurora Machiko-Edenthaw]

"Oh!" She exclaimed, realizing he was unsure of her origins. "Well, sort of! My mom and dad were both from the village, but my Mama retired so I'm just from Kaminari. I never went to the academy or anything!" She swept her arm in the direction of the village. She made the assumption between his question and location that he was a ninja from Kumogakure.

"This is Nyx by the way." She indicated the golden wolf leaning calmly against her leg. His eyes were alert but he made no indication of movement. His ears turned from side to side as he took in the surrounding noises as well as the conversation between the humans.

"See my Mama used to be the Kumokage but she retired. She didn't really want me to be a ninja so I never went to the academy. That doesn't mean I'm not going to be as strong as her though! I'd like to be a Kage one day too. My Papa retired from Kumogakure too and he became the Kusakage, so I just HAVE to be a Kage!" Her cheeks flushed with excitement as she told him of her plan to one day be great. Maybe he wanted to be great too and they could learn together!

[Hamura]

Looking down at the wolf she had by her side, he wondered if this was the kind of creature she had managed to tame out in the wilds or if it had been gifted to her by some kind of special kennel. Having never seen one like it before, he couldn't help but think that it was in some way related to the Shinobi world, and was likely capable of putting up quite a fight. Listening to the girl as she explained her story to him about how her family had moved away from the village and that it was part of why she hadn't enrolled into the academy to become a Shinobi, he figured that the girl was nothing special, just like him. Very few people in the world were actually special, for it meant that they were a step up from the rest, and Hamura had not really met any such people yet.

"I see. I never met my parents, though I was raised by my grandfather, who I guess was kinda like a father to me. He's the one who sent me down the path of the Shinobi, so I'm trying to do my best and honor his memory."

With that, he shared just enough of his own background to establish a sort of link with the girl, figuring that it was only fair to let her know a bit about him. She did tell him quite a bit about herself already, more than he had asked for. Still, he was not the kind of person to give someone the cold shoulder after opening up to him, because that would make him a prick. Continuing to listen to Aurora as she told the young Shinobi about her wolf and that his name was Nyx, a peculiar name in his opinion. Not being the kind of person that was afraid of animals but rather respected them, he figured that he wouldn't just go and pet it on the head so soon. He knew that even some of the most loyal of animals could growl, bark or even lash out at a stranger that tried to get touchy with it.

No, for the time being, he would just keep his hands to himself until the animal got used to him being in his immediate vicinity. After all, he had no time to focus solely on the animal because Aurora turned out to be a rather talkative person that did not seem to mind telling a complete stranger about her background. Stating that her mother had been a previous Raikage, or "Kumokage" as she called it, he started believing that he might need to rethink whether the girl was to be considered a special case or not. It wasn't until she told him that she wanted to become a Kage some day, and that her father was a Kage in Kusagakure. Having no idea as to what the leader of that village was called, he figured he'd let the fact that she called it a Kusakage slip.

"You know, you might want to be a bit more careful about what you tell people. I mean, for all you know, I could be a dangerous Shinobi who'd want to make some quick cash by kidnapping you for ransom. Truth be told, I'm nothing to be concerned about, and probably never will be, though some caution might be wise."

With a minuscule smile that was hardly recognizable forming in the corner of his mouth, he figured that he had been quite kind in bringing this much to her attention. He didn't mean to come across as a prick, though he did feel the need to make sure that the message was clear. As an aspiring Shinobi of the Hidden Cloud, it was more or less his duty to look after people and help them stay safe if he could. As a D ranked Shinobi, talking was one of the only things he could do right now that could help people, and that was something he wasn't particularly great at either.


-Edit-

As time was moving ever onward, he still had quite a lot of training left to do, and daylight was quickly being lost as he stood still doing nothing. He didn't mind talking for a bit, though he figured that it was something they could continue at a different time and location, preferably somewhere safer like the inside of the Hidden Cloud. Shrugging a bit, he looked at the dog and back at the girl before placing his hands into his pockets and staring off into the distance. 

"But I should get going, there are still quite some things I need to do before the day is over. If you ever come by the Hidden Cloud, look me up and we'll continue our talk."

-Exit-